In vitro efficacy of the skin peptide Brevinin-1Da against two isolates of the Global Pandemic Lineage of the amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

What is it about?

The spread of the amphibian fungal disease, called chytridiomycosis is among the main causes behind the worldwide decline of amphibian biodiversity. However, disease susceptibility can greatly vary among amphibian species, probably due to different defense strategies. In our study, we investigated the chemical defense of a European frog species the agile frog (Rana dalmatina) that seems to be resistant to the disease. According to our results, the antimicrobial peptides produced in the frog's skin can greatly contribute to this resistance. Furthermore, we found that the two pathogen strains tested from different locations in Europe had different susceptibilities to the antimicrobial peptides.

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